Windows 8 may bring a failed computer category back from the dead: in late 2009, Qualcomm promised that an ARM-based laptop computer called a "Smartbook" would change the industry, and today, PCWorld reports that the company is promising ARM-based laptops once again. According to the publication, who spoke with Qualcomm SVP Rob Chandok, the firm is building a special quad-core version of its 28nm Snapdragon S4 specifically for Windows 8 laptops that will be thinner than Apple's MacBook Air. "We think much lighter than what Intel calls an ultrabook," Chandok told PCWorld.

When we spoke to Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Microsoft at the BUILD conference for Windows 8 last year, all three companies hinted that ARM-based laptops were a possibility, but none would commit. Now, it sounds like we can definitely expect the Snapdragon S4 Pro or its derivative in future notebooks. Hear a little bit more about the upcoming chips in our interview with Qualcomm's Raj Talluri at MWC.